tony_j._mastres

<p>Great news, I'll check out the site, Thanks</p>

<p>I realize that this is an older post but it seems like the question may still be out there as I've spent some time researching it recently. I'm still currently looking for a good source for Tru Vue AR glass on the west coast but, seemingly, I found a great resource for those in the NE.<br>

http://www.mmdistributors.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=TV%20Anti%20Reflection%20Glass<br>

From what I can tell you cen get the AR in 16x20 size for about $16 a lite (3 pak)<br>

Shipping looks great for those in the NE but is murderous all the way to Calif so I cant use them but I'm hoping to find something out here. If anyone knows aof a good source, OPlease let me know, Thanks!</p>

First off let me say hooray that you're using the Unicolr drums. There

are a lot of people out there doing rotary processing but few of us

still use the Unicolor drums. You've already got some great answers to

your question and all I can add is to re-iterate the use of a more

dilute developer to control the contrast. You diddnt mention the type

of film you are using so I cant give any specific recomentdations but I

can tell you that I use T-max 100 and I use t-max RS at a 1:9 dilution

@ 75 deg F. for 11 min for an N process. This combo, other than the

time, is pretty common and has been popularized by John Sexton. (that

doesnt make it good or bad but it does give some starting points). A

word of warning, the rotary agitation of a JOBO unit is NOT the same as

that of our Unicolors! Dev times that people use for their JOBOs will

usually not be similar enough to those of people with Unicolor drums to

simply adopt without testing. In my experience the JOBOs are more

vigorous even at the lowest setting that are the Unicolors. It almost

seems like the Unicolor is halfway between tray processing and the JOBO

rotary. Hope this helps!

I've heard 3rd hand that Kodak has had problems with their current design ready-load packets. Can anyone confirm this?? I also heard they'll be redigning them as single sheet packets. any info would be great. Thanks!

I just recently got a cpp2 and have found that 11 min is a bit too much

for normal. Ironically 11min is exactly what I use with my Unicolor

drums but they rotate slower. I've found that around 9 min gives pretty

close to a normal neg with all else the same.

I recently acquired a JOBO CPP2 film processor with the 3010 film drums for processing BW 4x5 sheet film. My initial tests show an increase in the film-base-plus-fog density over my previous system which was a unicolor rotary unit. In my first test all the densities on my test card white/black and gray were higher including the fb+f but even when I achieved similar highlight/shadow and midtone densities the fb+f readings were higher to an amount easily noticeable to the naked eye than those done with my older system. Film, developer, time and temp all being the same. Anyone else experienced this, Thanks

RE: your third question about the Phot. Formulary developers. I've used their BW2 developer that was advertised as bringing out the true sharpness of T-Max films. This developer produced extremely grainy 120 negs for me and , yes they were sharp but they virtually unprintable beyond 11x14 size. I'd guess it was similar or slightly worse than Tri-x pushed a stop. Now you have to understand that T-Max(100) 120 can usually be printed to 20x20 or larger and still look good so the trade off wasn't worth it for me.

I've heard nothing but good things about TMX and Rodinal, so perhaps some day I'll try it. These days however I use TMAX-RS from the concentrate. It gives great contrast and decent sharpness with very repeatable results. By using it straight from the concentrate its convenient and easy to mix in different dilutions to suit your needs.

With the increased security awareness at airports these days, many major ones have switched to more powerfull and more harmfull x-ray machinery. Unless you want to become an expert on each machine and which type is where, have your film hand checked and never(if at all possible) leave it in your checked bags

If you really want to send your B/W film out, try Specialty Photo Labs in Santa Barbara Ca. (805) 962-6765. The have a Sitte-Tischer Nitrogen burst processor set up exclusively for B/W film processing. The quality was excellent when I used them. Of course human error will happen anywhere you go (including your own darkrooom!!!!!) but if something happens they will bend over backwards to make up for it. I currently process my own film (which is also what I reccommend) using JOBO and Unicolor drums. I believe this is a much more efficient, repeatable and safer process than trays for all non-compensating B/W film processing. Considering the volume of film you mentioned,though, I'd consider sending ot out also. At specialty they will also let you do N+ and N- processing. Ask for Glen Hodges, the owner he'll get you set up.

I get badly curled negs when the humidity drops signifigantly and I've found that by putting a pan of water at the bottom of my drying cabinet and running the fan only (no heat) I get fairly straight negs. I think the curling comes from drying the negs too much. Take them out as soon as they are " dry enough " to touch (test on leader area of course)

The best way I've found to eliminate water spots on negs is to eliminate the drops of water on the negs before drying. Yes, I mean squeegee them!!! I use a soft sponge squegee (not the rubber kind) and I keep it just barely damp so that it will absorb 95% of the water/photo-Flo mix.

I've never scratched a neg this way and I've been doing it for 15 years. Negs dry quickly this way and I rarely get spots. When I do get them it is usually because I used too much Photo-Flo in the water and the squegee was too wet ( therefore could not absorb enough of the water on the film)

I dont have facts regarding the Canon camera you mentioned, however, I suspect it is due to its extensive use of plastic components.

Many types of plastic transmit some IR wavelengths ( which is why plastic tanks aren't recommended for processing IR film )

All metal Canons such as their top line models or older cameras would'nt have this problem.